Different types of clamps are used for various purposes. For example, there are dead-end cable clamps such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,672 and there are suspension clamps. There are also parallel groove clamps which support separate conductors in parallel alignment. All these clamps are used to support many different types of electrical cable or fiber optic composite conductors. Although it is a desirable result to apply the clamping force uniformly around the circumference of the conductor, it is difficult to accomplish that result without designing the clamp for a particular sized conductor. Of course, it is very costly to provide a multiplicity of specific clamps for conductors having various diameters. If, on the other hand, the clamp is not designed so as to form fit the conductor, the clamping force is likely provided by compensating with an increased force to draw the opposite clamping members toward each other, resulting in considerable deformation of the conductor in the clamping area. Additional deformation occurs if the clamping faces are not somehow adapted to conform to the particular diameter of the conductor being clamped.
It is particularly important that a fiber optic composite conductor not be substantially deformed during the clamping process. Such a conductor includes a central core with one or more cavities which contain optical fibers. The core provides protection for the optical fibers whose ability to transmit light would be substantially hampered as a result of deformation.